Trail of Petals
by Estrelle Buscador
Summary: Téa has something special to tell Yugi and comes up with a creative way to do it. Oneshot.


Greetings Readers! Here's just a little Peachshipping oneshot I wrote, I hope you enjoy it!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters.

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A lot of things had changed from when Yugi had won the Ceremonial Duel and the Pharaoh had returned to his own time, but Yugi still was not a morning person. As the alarm clock had begun its series of irritatingly shrill beeps and chimes, Yugi turned over sleepily to hit the off button and groaned. Sitting up in bed, he rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes and looked down at his sleeping wife. Usually Téa, who was accustomed to bright early starts from her stint on Broadway, would be the one to sit up and disarm the alarm clock before turning to the task of rousing him in the energetically cheerful way that he both loved and detested – but for the past week she hadn't been feeling well, and she was still sleeping. He looked down at her affectionately and brushed her bangs gently out of her face so he could kiss her forehead before getting out of bed to get dressed for work. When you had a boss like Kaiba, being late was not an option.

Woken by the pressure of her husband leaving the bed, Téa sat up and groaned. Yugi looked over at her. "You can go back to sleep, honey – your appointment isn't for several hours."

"Well," she yawned, glaring at him, "I was but somebody woke me up." She folded her thin dancer's legs against her chest and leaned back against the headboard. "I don't think I need to go to the doctor anyway, I'm missing work."

Yugi turned to her and gave her an eyebrow quirk that was nearly identical to several that Yami had treated them to when he felt they were being foolish. "Don't go blaming this all on me – your boss was the one who told you to take off work because you weren't feeling well."

After seeing the Pharaoh off to the Afterlife, the gang had gone off to finish high school. Tristan, Téa, and Yugi had gone off to college, and Joey had gone into business with Grandpa at the Game Shop while finally dating Mai, who had gone into modeling locally so that she could be near Joey. After graduating from college, Tristan had returned to teach physical education at Domino and date Serenity with Joey's grudging permission, Téa had remained in New York to perfect her dancing and eventually to perform for several years on Broadway, and Yugi had become one of the foremost archaeologists of their time, focusing his excavations mainly in Egypt. Yugi and Téa had both returned to Domino when they'd gotten married, Yugi somehow managing to get a job at Kaiba's Duelist Academy – considering that Joey had gotten a kick out of coming along for the interview to antagonize their old somewhat-rival – and Téa getting a job as one of the instructors at one of the premier dancing studios in their part of Japan. Madame Bairalin, her boss, was a notorious taskmaster for her students, being tough but fair, but she was an enormously big-hearted woman with a soft spot for Téa. After watching the young dancer keep back obvious symptoms of illness in order to teach, she'd ordered her home for a few days until she felt better. Yugi had done one better by persuading her to see a doctor.

Téa groaned and rubbed her forehead wearily. "It's just…I don't like going to the doctor unless it's really important."

"But what if this is important, Téa?" Yugi said, walking over to her and tilting her chin up to look at him. He chewed contemplatively at the corner of his mouth. "Maybe I should come with –"

"Oh, no." Téa held up her hand, grinning, "My boss might let me off the hook but yours certainly won't."

Yugi smirked as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder…maybe I should let him challenge me to a card game…"

Téa burst out laughing. "Your annual duel is in a month – if you tried adding another one, he might expect some treachery on your part." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and gently pushed on his arms. "Go on, go. Fill the minds of our youth with knowledge and so on."

"Okay," Yugi leaned down and kissed her, "But call me if you need anything."

She kissed him back. "I will."

Téa smiled and leaned back against the pillows as she listened to the familiar sound of the car door slamming before Yugi drove toward the city. It was a familiar sound and somehow soothing as she tried to calm down the turmoil in her stomach that had been plaguing her for the past week.

**···**

Téa settled back into the waiting room chair with a sigh and let her heels land with a click on the floor. Although it might have been more sensible to drive to the clinic, it was a beautiful day and she'd decided to take the time to walk there instead, hoping that the cool air would calm her stomach. It didn't, and oddly enough her feet were also sore. She smiled at her negative train of thought and laughed it off. Maybe, after being married to him for over a year, Yugi's bad morning vibe was becoming contagious. It was funny that a man who was so often cheerful and optimistic wasn't a morning person, but it was just another way that Yugi had not changed over the years.

Téa pulled a book out of her shoulder bag, and, removing the bookmark, began to read. There was smooth jazz playing over the speaker system, a favorable change from the elevator music that typically filled waiting rooms across the globe, and Téa's foot began tapping subconsciously. The instrumentals segued into a much more syncopated temp, and her foot tapping increased. She soon began tapping, with both feet, a complicated, tight sequence that blended perfectly in with the music. Téa was oblivious to the motions until they caused her bag to fall off her lap, and then she looked down and burst out in sardonic laughter, causing the mother and daughter on the other side of the room to look up in confusion.

"I'm sorry," Téa said apologetically, and then attempted to hide her mortification in her book. A few minutes later, there was a shy but insistent tapping on the seat of the chair beside her and she looked up to see the younger girl who was clutching a magazine to her chest.

"Ms. Gardner?" The girl asked nervously but hopefully.

Téa smiled in a reassuring way. "Yes?"

The girl squealed, causing her mother to nearly bolt up from her chair as she quickly crossed the room. "Ooh, I knew it, I knew it! I knew I'd seen your face before and then when I read this," she nearly brandishing the magazine in her excitement, "I recognized you."

Téa reached out a hand inquisitively and flipped the magazine open to the article the girl was talking about. It was about a Broadway revival that had had a major supporting role in over a year and a half ago. _They really need to change the magazines_, she laughed to herself, but handed the magazine back to the other girl. "Did you see the play?"

The girl shook her head. "No, my parents wouldn't let me go to New York," she shot a rueful look at her mother who raised her eyebrows in reply, "but I saw some of it on TV."

Téa smiled. "Well, New York is pretty far away – I didn't even go there until I went to dancing school. I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was a great cost."

"But you were the best."

"Well, I'm not sure about that, but thank you."

The girl pushed the magazine back towards her. "Could you sign it, please?"

"Well, I would, but this belongs to the clinic." Téa said, "But if you get something else I'd be honored to sign it."

The girl looked beseechingly at her mother who produced a notepad from her purse. Téa signed it in a graceful script. "What's your name?"

"Pamela."

"To…Pamela…" Téa finished writing, and then handed the notepad back to Pamela. "There you are."

"Thanks." Pamela bit her lap. "So, are you going to be in another play anytime soon?"

"I'm afraid not," Téa answered, "When I got married, I moved back home to Japan and started teaching in a dance studio."

"Where?" Pamela's eyes lit up.

Téa gave Pamela one of the studio's business cards before the mother and daughter got called back into the doctor's office. The magazine had been left open on her lap and she looked down at it. The revival had been the last professional production she had been in before returning to Japan to get married. Seeing Pamela had reminded her of herself when she'd first gone over to New York to study dance and a little theatre. Through a combination of talent, practice and simple good luck she'd gotten a part in an off-Broadway with a few solo dancing parts, and then to major supporting roles. She'd been quite content with not getting any starring roles, knowing that her greater talents were in dancing and acting, and that her singing, while reasonably good, was not star quality.

She'd thoroughly enjoyed her four years on the stage, but when they'd felt it was time to get married a year after Yugi had proposed, she'd known it was also time to allow other young girls a shot at achieving their dreams and for her to achieve one more of her own. Married life had been good, with only a few minor arguments from time to time, and she loved teaching.

As she was putting the magazine up, her bag slumped forward and her wallet fell out. She picked up the wallet and smiled at her and Yugi's engagement picture, running her fingers across her face. _And I love him, too. He never would have made me leave Broadway, but it was time. I wouldn't have wanted him to have to share me with the stage_.

The nurse came out and called her name, and Téa shoved everything into her bag before getting up and following her. _I just hope that Yugi isn't getting too worried about this._

···

"Thanks, Mr. Mutou," the student, holding his backpack straps tightly in an almost nervous gesture.

"No problem, Seito," Yugi unlocked his office door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Placing his briefcase in the curved stool he'd procured from his second archaeological trip to Egypt that sat beside his desk and shrugged off his suit jacket. He stretched out his arms in front of him and sighed when his shoulders popped. Yugi's hand grazed one of the photographs perched at the end of the desk and he picked it up. It was a picture of everyone when they were on the boat headed to the Ceremonial Duel – they'd taken one right after they'd disembarked, but that one hadn't had Yami in it. They'd managed to convince Yami to be in the picture on the boat, but Yugi was in the picture on the shore, the gym bag holding the Millennium Items slung over his shoulder. An outside observer would have had trouble distinguishing between the two pictures, but Yugi could see the differences instantly. Yami's eyes were narrower, and his height slightly taller – but that wasn't what Yugi noticed most. Even after three years of being freed, Yami still had had that reserved air around the others – whereas pictures of Yugi had him in the middle of the action, grinning from ear to ear, Yami always stood a little to the side away from the others and there was a content upward tilt to his mouth. Yami had made it clear how much he had valued their friends, but he always remained a little more serious, more regal, almost a little distant.

_Hope you're doing well, Yami_, Yugi thought, wondering if Yami could even hear him. It had been a bittersweet thing to say goodbye to his closest friend, but time had made it less difficult, less bittersweet. It wasn't so much that it was any sweeter, just less bitter.

Yugi smiled at the picture next to the one he'd been holding and pulled it closer. It was his engagement picture. They had never been that different in appearance but as time had passed, he looked more and more like Yami. Putting away the picture, he stretched out his arms and absentmindedly noticed their tightly muscled tanned-ness. Of course, that had come with the years of archaeological expeditions in Egypt before getting married – after earning his degree in archaeology in only three years, he'd gone on his first professional trip to Egypt with Dr. Hawkins. After successfully solving an encrypted riddle in one of the tombs, Yugi had received respect and notoriety among his more experienced colleagues, and in two years was heading his own expeditions. It had been several hectic but exciting years that had led to wider knowledge, muscular limbs, and the long scar crossing his shoulder blade to his chest. That had been the result of a long, interesting story involving a twenty-foot drop, a faulty rope and several long rusty spikes that he had never told Téa in its entirety. Suffice to say that impromptu tetanus shots are not fun.

Yugi pulled the stack of history test from his briefcase and began grading them. He still went on an occasionally expedition and was available for consultation, but now taught the Duel Academy full-time. He taught strategy and, having double-majored in history, world history. Kaiba had also convinced him to give a weekly seminar on logic, leading to one of their debates. Yugi had pointed out that one either innately had logic or didn't, and Kaiba had smugly countered that they could learn how to apply logical thinking. In the end, Yugi had caved – Kaiba was his boss.

That was the same reason why they had their annual duel that the entire school was invited to attend – it was in his contract. Sometimes he wondered that if Kaiba ever managed to win, the annual duel would be written out of the contract, because Yugi was still the undefeated King of Games. That title was well-known by all of his students, most of whom admired him like the student who'd just left, but there were a few students who were openly contemptuous about his fame. He'd heard some students claiming that his continued championship was fixed, and that all newcomers challenging him let him win. He'd gotten a big kick of going down to the field surrounding the campus where the students liked to duel, wearing sunglasses and a black ballcap, and taking on the naysayers. When he'd won, he'd take the cap and glasses off and smile cheerfully before walking away.

Téa liked to act disapproving of the deception, but she could never quite keep the laughter out of her eyes. Yugi chuckled, but then his face sagged as he thought of his wife. _She should be at the doctor now,_ he thought, _I hope that she's all right. I should be there with her._ He mused over the thought and then was struck with an idea. He picked up the phone and dialed.

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Téa unlocked the front door to the apartment and pushed it open. As she closed the door behind her, she leaned against the door and let out a deep breath. Well, that explains a lot.

Yugi was going to explode when he found out, she was certain. Either that or faint, she smiled to herself. She dropped her bag on the kitchen table and sat down in a chair, gracefully folding her legs as her brows knit in concentration. _How should I go about telling him?_

The doorbell rang then, and she opened it to find a deliveryman holding a glass vase brimming with daisies. She thanked the man and hugged the vase to her, smiling as the white petals tickled the bottom of the chin. The card tucked beneath the daisies read, "Hey, honey. Wish I could have been there for you today. Hope you're feeling okay. Love, Yugi."

_I'm feeling great, Yugi,_ she thought, smiling as she put the vase on the kitchen table. _In fact, I'm better than that – you just gave me a great way to tell you._

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"I'm home!" Yugi called as he closed the apartment door behind him, smirking at the distinctly old American sitcom similarities. He narrowed his eyes, though, when she didn't respond, and looked around confusedly. Where could she be? "Téa?"

There was no reply and Yugi knit his eyebrows together as he put his coat and briefcase in the closet. A nagging worry in the back of his mind pestered him that maybe she was still at the doctor, but he dismissed it when he saw a few daisy petals on the floor just past the closet. _At least she got the flowers_. Daisies had been their favorite flower ever since Yugi had rushed overseas to surprise her during one of her early Broadway performances; there were no roses left in the nearby florist shops so he grabbed some daisies to surprise her with. _Better pick them up,_ Yugi thought, kneeling down and scooping up some petals, _or Téa might think we need to do some spring cleaning – and make me help._

He stood up, stuffing the petals in his pocket but stopped when he saw even more petals leading down the hallway. _This wasn't a very good florist_, he thought as he followed them, picking them up, because they wouldn't start dropping all these – He stopped the thought as, when he got closer to the bedroom, he saw whole flowers lying on the ground. Something else was afoot besides amateurish florists. He followed the flowers into the bedroom and froze.

Téa was sitting cross-legged on the bed with the empty vase in her lap with dozens of lit candles surrounding her and the walls. She gave him a dazzling smile and walked over to him. "Thanks for the flowers."

Yugi swallowed hard. Being a dancer she was somehow able to sit with crossed legs in a dress, and the dark blue sleeveless dress flapped against her lower calves. "Uh…you're welcome."

Téa grinned a bit and swept one of her arms to the left. "Hungry?"

Yugi followed her. "…Sure."

Téa sat down on the bed and patted it for him to join her. When he sat down and stretched out his legs beside her, she reached over and put a pizza box in between them. "Dig in."

Both of them grabbed slices and began eating. Yugi managed to keep his curiosity under control through the first slice but then asked, "So, what did the doctor say? Are you all right?"

"Better than that, actually – I'm great." Téa cleared her throat, "I hope you like the pizza – that you weren't expecting something different."

Yugi missed the hint, and Téa rolled her eyes. "No, pizza's great, but that doesn't answer my-"

Téa cut him off. "It's not so much that I didn't want to cook. It's just that I had this weird craving for pizza." She looked up with a mix of irritation and amusement as Yugi continued to look clueless. _And they call you an expert at solving riddles?_

"Téa, please –" Yugi pleaded, "Just tell me."

"Okay. Could you put the box up first?" Téa said, handing him the box.

He slid off the bed and shoved the pizza box on one of the dressers that didn't have candles on it. Barely maintaining his composure, he turned to her. "Well?"

Téa fiddled with her hands on her lap. "I was trying to come up with a good way to tell you, but I couldn't come up with any so I'll just say it." She took a deep breath. "Yugi, I'm pregnant."

Yugi opened his mouth. Then closed it. Then fainted.

···

Somewhere far away in a part of the strange dimension that hosted eons of past eras and civilizations, a long-dead Egyptian Pharaoh inexplicably broke into roars of laughter, startling his count who were in the middle of discussing how best to spend their time in the kingdom. It was a strange option from the constantly regal and refined Pharaoh Atem, and several of the priests sprang up with their Millennium Items at the ready, prepared to exorcise any foreign demon possessing the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh waved a hand at them reassuringly. "It's fine, it's fine."

As the others sat down, Yami continued chuckling to him. "Very smooth, Yugi. I don't believe Téa will ever let you live this down. If only I were there…"

···

When Yugi woke up, he was leaning against the side of the bed with the distinct feeling that someone was laughing at him. He turned his head groggily and saw his wife sitting next to him. "Sorry I couldn't get you up on the bed, but all that muscle is heavy." She brushed some of his hair out of his face. "If that's how you react now, I shudder to think how you'll be in the delivery room."

Yugi snapped out of his catatonia and impressively swept his wife up from her sitting positions and spun her around. "That's amazing! How far along are you? How's the baby?"

"About a month, and the baby's fine – although maybe dizzy from the way you're spinning me." Téa laughed and Yugi set her down on the bed. She was just about to tease him some more before she felt Yugi's lips on hers, one hand supporting her back and the other protectively covering her stomach. And then she decided to just enjoy the moment and kissed him back.

···

The next morning, Téa woke up to an empty bedroom. She rolled over to one side, about to get more than a little irritated with her husband for not saying goodbye when she saw the once-empty vase refilled with fresh daisies. She smiled as she sleepily reached for the folded notebook paper next to it.

_Morning Sunshine,_

___I hope that you rested all right. I'm sorry that I didn't say goodbye before I left but you wouldn't wake up_. Sleeping for two, I guess, or is that just eating?

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Anyway, I accidentally spilled to Grandpa about the baby and he's letting Joey leave around lunchtime. No, I can't stop him – so you might want to call Serenity to run interference. I should be back early tonight.

I love you, Téa, and I can't wait to see the baby when he or she's born.

Love, Yugi.

P.S. Please don't tear up your flowers this time.

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A/N: And that's the end - I hope you liked it!


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